No Drones Florida

Thursday, July 10, 2014

July 2013: Heavy smoke is visible near Mexico Beach, Florida after a
drone crashed
on takeoff from Tyndall Air Force Base.
(From CapitalBay.com)

The very first post on the No Drones Florida website was about the way in which Florida is bristling with drones bases. At the time, we could only guess at what some of the consequences of this would be.

On June 22, 2014, the Washington Post published the results of a far-reaching investigation into crashes that have occurred in the U.S. drone program.

Shockingly, of the 194 major ("Class A") crashes that the Washington
Post was able to document, 47 occurred within the United States.

Below is information on five (5) drone crashes that occurred in the state of Florida alone between the years 2001 and 2013. (The listed incidents are Air Force-related, unless otherwise indicated.)

Date: April 25, 2006Location: Gulf of Mexico, 88 miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., United StatesEstimated damage: $2,450,000Details: A Phantom (QF-4E) had to be blown up when it went out of control . . . .

Remains of crashed drone in the Gulf of Mexico: May 13, 2011

Date: May 13, 2011Location: Gulf of Mexico, 16 nautical miles south of Tyndall Air Force Base,Estimated damage: $2,801,574Details: An aerial target drone [Phantom (QF-4E)] crashed in the Gulf of Mexico.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Rep. Alan Grayson (representing Florida's 9th Congressional district) is on the record declaring that the Obama administration needs to do some 'fessing up:

"It's time for our government to shed some light on its drone practices. Transparency, as uncomfortable as it may sometimes be, is an essential part of our democracy. Americans need the facts -- the who, what, when, where, and (most importantly) why -- in order to decide if the benefits of these strikes outweigh the negatives. And for the people in other countries, whose lives are so profoundly impacted by America's drone activities, people like Rafiq ur Rehman and the individuals in Datta Khel, they deserve some closure, too."

Now a bill is pending in Congress -- the The Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act (HR 4372) -- also known as the "Come Clean on Drone Killing" Act. At this writing, quite a few of Rep. Grayson's fellow progressive caucus members have become co-sponsors for the bill. So where is Rep. Grayson?

First
Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) called the U.S.
on the carpet for dodging the call from the international community to
come clean about its drone killings. Then Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and
Walter Jones (R-NC) submitted a bill calling for drone transparency. So
... are we finally going to get the truth?

The reason the Administration is hiding truth about drones is that they don't have a satisfactory answer for how decisions about drone strikes are made. As we have known all along, we need the public to think
about how crummy the whole drone program is, and then they will be
ready to be on our side. The best way to get them really thinking is to
shine a spotlight on the secrecy, evasiveness, and deceit involved in
the U.S. drone program.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Students for a Democratic Society and the UF libertarians came together between April 8th and 12th for a week of anti-drone action, joining the nationwide April Days of Action Against Drones. As reported in Fight Back News, the event incorporated a wide variety of educational demonstration that spread awareness about U.S. imperialism, civilians murdered by drone warfare, and UF's involvement in research that supports the drone industry.

On Monday, April 8, activists painted a huge mural on the 34th Street Wall reading, “4700 murders and counting,” referring to the extrajudicial killings carried out by the U.S. government in countries like Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, in Turlington Plaza, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) joined SDS and UF Libertarians to hold a moment of silence and read the names of over 400 children killed by drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.

In "Pin the Drones," students in the Plaza of the

Americas were challenged to find a country

that the U.S. had not invaded bombed,

or occupied within the last 10 years. This

proved a difficult task

On Friday, 4/12 activists gathered in front of Tigert Hall, UF's administrative building, to call attention to the university's involvement in research that fuels drone development.

"Drop TUITION not BOMBS;" describes the tradeoff implicit in the University's funding of drone research.

"FUND EDUCATION NOT OCCUPATION" was the message
broadcast by a banner hung from the Tigert Hall steps.

After the rally on Friday, April 12, a delegation of students met with administrators to demand that information concerning UF’s relationship with the military and drone companies be made public. After the meeting, SDS organizer Michela Martinazzi said, “We’re not against technology, but we are against U.S. wars and murder. We think that there is some important drone research being done for wildlife monitoring, but UF research needs to be transparent and accountable.”April Days of Action Against Drones continue! How will YOU get involved?!

The action took place on Landis Green, the university’s “free speech zone,” in the busy center of campus. From 11 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, students handed out info sheets about the expanding US drone program overseas and at home. Signs such as “Drones Kill Kids,” “Drone Strikes = War Crimes,” and “5,000 killed in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia (Most Civilians)” reached hundreds of students. Many students learned about drones for the first time, while others expressed their support

Given the fact that drones are now the primary weapons of warfare used by the US, and for surveillance both domestic and abroad, the research and development of this warfare is growing rapidly at academic institutions, in our towns and neighborhoods. Drones are the perfect instrument for endless war that kills civilians, even as they target “militants” in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Academic institutions often receive large grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, enabling them to build labs within schools of engineering, for instance. We are well aware that without this research in robotics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and the accompanying accessories, these drone warfare projects would probably not take place. So there is an interdependent relationship between the universities and the U.S. government and or its Department of Defense and CIA. (CIA drones are used in countries with which the U.S. is not “at war”, ie Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Mali, and others.)

While universities tend to publicize some information on their respective websites regarding the drone work, it is most often said to be for non-military purposes. And there are students working in the labs who are convinced that all the research is for humanitarian purposes. However, history has told us that non-military can quickly and easily become military. Moreover research has shown drones make mistakes on recognizing their targets.

We are therefore asking organizations and individuals, nationwide, to explore any drone research that might be going on at their local university. We are calling for local actions between April 16 and 18, 2013 (Suggested actions are listed below) Our limited research into University and Academic UAV programs indicates that research centers are operating in Florida:

Before those dates in April we will need to know what information you have acquired about the research and what actions and events your group is planning.This will be shared among groups in the Network. You can send this information to us at notodrone@gmail.com.

We will have a press committee that will receive your press release and any articles you are able to publish before or after the event.

This project will complement other outreach, education and action projects that will be launched in April, focusing on drone bases, April 27-28 and drone manufacturers , April 4-6.

Suggested actions:

Learn what research is being done by searching on a university website. Look especially at the Engineering Dept.

Organize a forum, preferably on campus, with speakers and discussion. Be sure to publicize in campus newspapers, and possibly include a professor as one of the speakers. Also include local activists.

Plan a small meeting with the appropriate persons in the department working on drone research, both professors and students.

Hold vigils and leaflet on or close to the campus, as well as in town.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Raytheon, one of the biggest U.S. military contractors, is jumping to the front lines of the U.S. war of terror against people all over the world by providing the terrifying weapons that make drones so lethal.